Tuesday audio. Mootness/Ripeness papers due Monday. Abstention papers due at arguments.
We continue and conclude with Congressional Control. Read the scholarly debates on jurisdiction-stripping; I don't think we'll discuss in class, but they are fair game for your papers. Be ready to discuss:
• The difference between dictating an outcome and changing the law, as seen in Robertson, Markazi, and Patchak. Is the PLCAA valid under Klein?
• How do you square the Klein principle that Congress cannot dictate constitutional meaning with departmentalism?
• Can Congress dictate statutory meaning, including the interpretive tools courts can use?
• How is Plaut different than Klein and what is Plaut's unique principle.
• What textual terms in Article III or elsewhere grant or limit congressional power over the courts? Is the scope of the power different for SCOTUS than lower courts and, if so, why?
• Besides creating courts and determining jurisdiction, what else can Congress attempt to control?
• Consider the validity (especially in light of Klein and Plaut), benefits, and drawbacks to the following:
• two proposals on cameras in the courtroom.
• Shadow Docket Sunlight Act
• Proposal: In deciding a case, SCOTUS shall issue one unsigned, unenumerated majority opinion. No concurrences or disssents. If a majority cannot agree on a rationale, the Court shall issue a judgment summarily affirming or reversing, without opinion.
• Proposal: Limits on opinion lengths: Majority opinion may be no more than 15,000 words, concurrences 5,000 words, dissents 10,000 words.
